Just a quick update.

Look at this little sweetie. In two weeks or so he's all mine :) Just gotta get totally moved in to my new place! I can't wait.

In the meantime, any input for names?

Very important question.

I'm attempting to knit an Eloping garter for my friend who just got engaged. It looks sooo pretty and I'm stoked to get it done, it should ideally go pretty fast.

Am I THE ONLY ONE who doesn't understand it? I mean according to Ravelry over 200 people have successfully made it. I don't get it at all! How are you supposed to purl 2 together after a yarnover? I might just knit 2 together instead... I seriously cannot be the only one.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? I need some serious help!

The One-Hour Sweater

Oh, yes. I'm sure this thing took me about an hour, not counting the time it took to recycle a plastic bag into stitch markers and stitch holders! I adapted the human-size top-down sweater pattern into a cute sweater for Sammy, the squirrel Jason gave me. It started out as an iPod cozy, but I soon realized it fit over his head. And the sweater was born.

I'm not sure how I managed to do it without dropping a stitch or messing up in some way.. I did this after about 6 hours on the road on the way to Salt Lake. It may be warm now but come winter time, Sammy's going to get cold!

By the way, I moved! :) No more crappy Washington weather for me. I'm about settled in and I'm so happy; all that's missing is my wonderful boyfriend, but he'll be here soon enough. :)

I've discovered in this past week of moving, however, I have a serious love/hate relationship with Ikea furniture. I walk into the store with such high hopes, looking forward to constructing my new furniture, thinking about how fun it will be to put together and how cute it will look when it's finished. Then I get it home and pull all these parts out of the cardboard with the vague instructions, and I sort of want to cry.

I always love how it turns out, but getting it done is the biggest pain. Thank God they have an Ikea helpline.

Summer knitting is the best.

I found a new beach near my house. It's about a 15 minute drive, it's relatively secluded, and absolutely beautiful.

I've been there the past three days in a row after work skipping rocks (or trying), knitting, and just playing in the water.

I know, I know it's no California.. The water is ice cold and the rocks hurt your feet, but I am absolutely in love with the beach! There's something about knitting outside when it's warm that is really calming. I don't always get a lot done, but it makes me feel a little less lazy than knitting while I watch TV. :)

And in two weeks, I'll be down to only one job, which I'll only be working occasionally anyway, and I'll have all the freetime in the world to go.

Now I just have to look for replacements for when I'm in landlocked Utah!

I wanna know other people's favorite places to knit now. :)

I love my cat.

Every time I work on my full-size rainbow blanket, Dewey sleeps on it, without fail. I lost the yarn I needed to finish the full-size one (it has since been relocated and the blanket can finally be finished). So, I worked on a blanket just for Dewey instead out of scrap yarn! I was a little worried he wouldn't sleep on it, as anything you get specifically for him to sleep on gets avoided like the plague. This one is different though! He sleeps on it every day :)

And he looks so cute on it!!

I've also been working on the Spirit of Adventure pattern! I made one attempt that turned out to be way too skinny. This next attempt seems to be working out well, it's more balloon-shaped, and it's about halfway done; I'll make sure I post pictures before I felt it! I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to do the letters; I don't want to chart it, I just don't know if I want to stitch it on before I felt it or after.

I'm hoping this will turn out as cute as I'm imagining it!

I wish I knew more about short-rows because I think it might make the shape better. I can do short rows in patterns but I have no idea how to actually write them into a pattern.

As a side note, there's only two weeks left until I'm done with classes, and I can devote my time fully to work and knitting! I am SOO EXCITED!

New pattern in the making.

I absolutely adore this movie. If I'm ever sad or sick like I was last night, I just pop it in and instantly I'm happy again, although admittedly the part I posted makes me cry.

There's a part in the beginning where Carl as a kid is running around holding a balloon that says "The Spirit of Adventure." It's when he first meets Ellie.

I wanna knit a pillow that looks like it.

I'm still figuring out the dimensions and all, but I am soo excited! :) I'll probably post updates later on today.

The Susan Cox Powell Foundation

I know this isn't knitting but it's important (and I can tie it in! You'll see. Read the whole thing.)

So, I was at work today when a woman came in with a flyer about Susan Cox Powell, her friend who had gone missing, and the story really touched me. She has been missing since December 2009, and her own husband is a person of interest. A foundation was established in 2010 to not only support the search for Susan, but to help out in all missing persons cases as well as domestic violence cases.

I can't imagine what Susan's family must be going through. The woman who came in (if it was you I'm sorry I didn't catch your name! Nothing personal :)) told me about how hard Mother's day was, because Susan's sons were without their mother, and Susan's mother didn't have her daughter.

Needless to say, it made me cry and I offered to help in any way I can.

Thus, I am using this blog to spread the word.

Vital information about Susan:

Date last seen: December 7th, 2009 12:30 am

Place last seen: 6524 Sarah Cir, West Valley City, UT

Gender: Female

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 130 lbs

Hair: Shoulder length, Brown

Eyes: Blue

Law Enforcement Contact: West Valley City PD, 801-840-4000

Reward: $10,000 for information leading to the finding of Susan

In addition to just spreading awareness of Susan's disappearance, I want to organize a way to help the foundation. Susan's friends and family organized a Week of Service in March where things were knitted and donated to various foundations in Susan's name, which I think is a great idea. I was also thinking of knitting and selling things, and donating all the proceeds to the foundation.

I want input people!

And if someone more organized than me wants to take over on the project and make a group on Ravelry or something for it, feel free; I can most definitely keep track of my own stuff but I'm scatterbrained. :)

Anyway. Let's do it!

The Find Susan blog

http://heartsknitforsusan.wordpress.com/

The Susan Cox Powell Foundation homepage

http://www.susancoxpowellfoundation.org/